A27L Cruiser Tank Mk. VIII Centaur
The A27L Cruiser Tank Mk. VIII Centaur was Cruiser Tank that was used by Great Britain in World War II. Description The A27L was originally called (like the A24 Cruiser Tank Mk. VII Cavalier) the Cromwell. ' The Centaur (and A27L) designation is used to identify Cromwell tank hulls fitted with a Liberty engine during a shortage of available Meteor engines. Centaurs could later be changed into the A27M Cruiser Tank Mk. VIII Cromwell when engine's became available, thus most were used for training during the interim period. Performance of the vehicle was lower than the Cromwell. Engine power was reduced from 600bhp down to 395. The engine revved at 1,650 rpm compared with with 2,550 rpm in Cromwell, hence the top speed using similar gearbox component was reduced. Top rated speed with the 3.71 ratio final drives was 25.36mph while with the later 4.5 ratio final drives it was 20.93mph. Variants *'Cruiser Tank Mk. VII Centaur: Original Design''' ''' *'Centaur I' *'Centaur III' *'Centaur IV' *'Centaur OP': Artillery Observation Vehicle *'Centaur Kangaroo': Armored Personnel Carrier *'Centaur ARV': Armored Recovery Vehicle *'Centaur Dozer' *'Centaur Mk III/IV AA I' *'Centaur Mk III/IV AA II' http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=242 History Design The Cromwell tank used the Meteor engine, a re-worked version of the Merlin used in aircraft like the Submarine Spitfires, however there was an insufficient number of engines available and an interim solution was needed. This became known as A27L Centaur, and used the Liberty engine of the preceding Crusader and Cavalier tanks. Initial development of the Meteor used crashed aircraft engines as the basis, however as production of the Cromwell ramped up there was an insufficient number of crashed Merlin engines to build new Meteors. While factories were established to produce brand new Meteor's, a number of Cromwell tanks were fitted with Liberty engines to enable their use, predominantly in training. These tanks were designated the 'Centaur'. Centaur tanks were made to be ugraded to Cromwell when engines became available, hence had almost identical features. The Liberty engine required different fans and clutch be fitted, but the steering and gearbox unit remained the same. Early Centaurs lacked the Cromwell air intake atop the engine deck (resembling Cavalier) but this was rapidly changed to make retrofit of Meteor engines easier. Production Centaur models lasted through the production of Cromwell I, III and IV with 6 pdr, 75mm and 95mm armaments restpectively. Later Cromwell models did not suffer the same shortage of engines. Service Centaur gun tanks were used predominantly for training although a small number were used in action with the Royal Marines. A greater number were used in action after upgade to Cromwell with the changes to later marks. A subset of Centaurs were converted to Dozers as part of Hobart's Menagerie, or "Funnies". These served during D-day and throught the following actions in Europe with the 1st Assault Royal Engineers. As the need for Centaurs diminished another subset were converted to anti-aircraft duties with the fitting of another turret (similar to the Crusader A.A.). Designed to accompany tank convoys, this type saw very limited use as the threat of air strike had diminished by the time they were converted. References Category:Cruiser Tanks Category:British Tanks Category:Tanks Category:Articles to be Expanded Category:A27L Cruiser Tank Mk VIII Centaur Category:British Vehicles